This Week's Philadelphia Deal Sheet
CVVF Norristown-Met LLC, a Nashville-based company with a fund dedicated to buying veterinary practices, purchased a 25K SF vet facility at 2626 Van Buren Ave. in Norristown.
Animal hospitals and other pet-related facilities are increasingly on the radar of real estate investors, according to the deal’s brokers.
The property has been occupied by Metropolitan Veterinary Associates for more than 15 years. The sale price was $7.4M for the building, which was constructed in 1987 and renovated in 2019. It sits on 2.6 acres close to the interchange of Route 363 and Route 422.
CBRE’s Michael Shover, Matthew Gorman, Thomas Finnegan and Rob Thompson represented the seller, LMP Van Buren LLC, a local fund that bought the property in 2019.
“Pet related industries have been steadily growing for years; however that trend was accelerated by the pandemic, driving pet ownership figures to their highest levels,” Shover said in a release. “As you might expect, the demand for veterinary services has only increased and commercial real estate investors now see this segment of the industry as a medically-related stable and safe harbor for the foreseeable future.”
The CBRE team also recently closed the sale of the Blue Pearl vet practice in Malvern.
“We’re experiencing a lot of growth and consolidation within the vet segment and the demand for investment real estate backed by these tenants is robust,” Gorman said.
SALES
First National Realty Partners purchased Richland Market Place, a 267K SF retail property on Route 309 in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. The asset is 89.1% occupied, anchored by Aldi, PetSmart and BestBuy and junior-anchored by Planet Fitness and Staples.
A JLL team led by Christopher Munley, James Galbally, Colin Behr and James Graf represented the seller, KPR.
“Philadelphia suburban retail markets, and in particular grocery-anchored assets within these markets, have performed exceptionally well over the past few years,” Munley said in a statement. “These assets have experienced tremendous leasing momentum along with attractive rental growth, which is reflective in the demand seen from the capital markets.”
PEOPLE
Daniel Dougherty was named chief financial officer of Velocity Venture Partners. He has more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry. He was most recently managing director of Verde Capital.
DEVELOPMENT
The Schuylkill Avenue Research Building has broken ground with a completion date in 2025, Commercial Property Executive reports. The 350K SF facility is being developed by a partnership of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Gilbane Building Co., Pride Enterprises and McKissack & McKissack and is designed by Cannon Design. It will be divided into 33K SF of office, 258K SF of lab/research and 6,500 SF of retail. It is being built on top of a parking garage next to CHOP’s Roberts Center for Pediatric Research and will be 14 stories. It is aiming for LEED Silver certification.
FINANCING
Camber Real Estate Partners secured $89.1M in refinancing for the Crossings Industrial Portfolio, a 25-building, 1.2M SF light industrial portfolio in Southern New Jersey and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Camber acquired the portfolio 18 months ago and increased occupancy from 90% to 99%. Cushman & Wakefield’s John Alascio, Chuck Kohaut and T.J. Sullivan secured the floating-rate loan for the borrower through Natixis.
